Navy SEAL Eddie Gallagher said that he’s “learned his lesson” after being convicted of posing for gruesome photos with the corpse of a terrorist he killed in Iraq – but insisted that his behavior was standard operating procedure.
“It’s wrong. I’ll say it’s wrong now. And I’ve definitely learned … my lesson,” Gallagher told David Martin of “60 Minutes” in an interview airing Sunday. “It’s distasteful.”
But he brushed the photo off as “dark humor” that he intended to remain private – and pushed back on Martin’s description of the pic as a war crime.
“I’m pretty sure I’m the first person ever to go to a general court-martial for it, for taking a picture,” Gallagher said. “It’s been done on previous deployments.”
Gallagher was a chief petty officer in 2017 when he was deployed to Iraq to combat Islamic State militants.
He was acquitted of murdering the ISIS fighter, despite the testimony of some members of his platoon, but was convicted on the lesser charge.
President Trump intervened in the case in November, pardoning Gallagher – and sacking Navy Secretary Richard Spencer for his handling of the case.



